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What I like everyone else is concerned about our privacy we all know that in times when national security is involved privacy becomes an issue . I understand the concern that Apple had however since we were discussing the technology of the known terrorist I feel that there unwillingness to help is not understandable . When lives are at stake we need to act quickly . If every raid an investigation in Europe underwent this type of scrutiny and masterminds of the Paris attacks in Brussels attacks may still be walking the streets . These are unusual times and we need to treat them as such .

Terry, you make an incredible point about the security needed to stop all terrorist attacks, particularly lone wolf assaults. You need need an authoritarian state, if not a totalitarian one, where neighbors spy on neighbors and a lot of innocent people suffering out of paranoiac punishments from security forces. Not where we want to live.

@TerryB: Thanks for your thoughts. I always appreciate your posts and our discussions! I'm not a big fan of the TSA. I fly a lot and as a middle aged guy travelling alone on business with a laptop, I am ALWAYS singled out for close inspection and have been for years. Only when i am with my girlfriend do i get a break! I don't think the TSA as it currently is deployed is the best way of doing things. The Brits do it better and the Israeli's do it the best. Unfortunately it has to be done. I think the TSA should look at how these other countries do it and modify it for the US.

I completely agree with you about doing things the right way. Since 9-11 I think the government winged it and has started to craft a better considered solution with all these intelligence agencies. Aside from threats that were never considered by intelligence planners, new technology has emerged which has stayed a step ahead of not only the law but the agencies. You hit it right on the head when you mentioned that someone is considered guilty until proven innocent. But unfortunately because of the fast changing developments, that was the only way things could be controlled. I personally hate it when i am flying to be singled out because i am a tall male and brought into a different area to be searched. It is embarrassing because i look like the squarest business guy you can imagine! One time in London, after going through the Fast Track line and having a Trusted Traveler Number and special passport, and travelling in First Class (I have a lot of frequent flyer miles), I was pulled out on the jet way trying to board the plane! I really lost it at that point because i felt it was harassment. Thankfully they apologized to me and i had a drink but I get it. I don't like it but i get it. I'm hoping that in the future all the security agencies can work together and tailor their programs to the countries and events that are taking place.

I also agree with you about resolving the radical Muslim issue. I don't know how many more events have to take place before the West gets serious and cooperates to eliminate the threat. I was supposed to be in Paris this past November when that event took place. And i have been in Brussels more times than i care to recall.

@tjgkg, always enjoy your thoughts, you are a very bright guy. But as someone born in Oklahoma City, with my family from there, I've felt the effect of terrorism far longer than 9/11. But we didn't rush to toss all our values and freedom away after that event.

If you are saying the TSA makes you feel safer, good for you. All I can tell you is my neighbor, who is great guy and great mechanic, also works part time for the TSA. If you think he is going to prevent terrorism with the minimal training he got (or ever could get), good luck with that.

We already have a CIA, NSA, etc to watch for threats. I'm not calling to abolish that. But it has to be done correctly. The solution is not to consider everyone a terrorist and then let them prove they are not. You can't wiretap everyone, abolish encryption, etc in the name of "preserving our freedom".

This solution to radical Muslims is a political, global solution. This is not America's battle to fight alone. But people are lumping these lone wolf attacks in that fight. I can't imagine how locked down a society would have to be to stop that. It's not a society I want to be part of, that's for sure.

John Lennon WAS a subversive. You apparently were not around when he was at his radical best in the early 70's. Look it up. He did not just call for peace. Even Lennon repudiated much of that period at the end of his life. Your Lennon example is pretty poor. He would have had a file on him in ANY country of the world if he pulled those stunts.

If you cannot answer the question about what "statelessness" then you cannot understand what is going on. Your argument about Gitmo is facile and naive. The world does not operate where you can just do what you want to do, have complete immunity and privacy from your actions and go on your merry way. It has never been like that anywhere.

Yes, there were subversives (and still are) trying to overthrow the government. But the FBI kept tabs on far more people than just communists. John Lennon, for example, had a nice big file. What was he doing that was subversive? Oh, right, he called for peace.

And you claim they are against 'stateless' enemies. Who decides they are stateless? Are you sure they all are? And, truth be told, they all weren't enemies. There are many people in Gitmo, for example, who turned out NOT to be enemies of the US or had anything to do with terrorism. And many of them are still there, because the US can't unload them back, and some of them now might be so teed off at the US for treating them this way they now might become terrorists.

I used to say "This isn't what the US is about. We're supposed to be better than this!". But then I realized we've never been better than this. We SHOULD be better than this, but we're just a bunch of frightened bunnies quivering in the corner.

Terrorism is a very real threat. As someone who lives in NYC and was at Ground Zero on 9-11 I can personally attest to that. If you don't think that law enforcement has to be vigilant 24/7/365 to prevent anything worse from happening again, you are totally naive.

In a way we were safer during the Cold Ware because all we had to worry about was one country which we could at least watch and assure their total destruction should they do something to us. Today, nukes are all over the place and proliferating further. Along with that you have stateless and lawless terrorists who cause great destruction, loss of life and misery wherever they go. There is no way to put a full army on the ground and wipe that lot out. Little things like what is on a phone, tweet, email or other electronic transmission is part of the puzzle that will lead to the defeat of a threat.

I am all for doing whatever it takes to keep us safe. Lincoln and FDR thought the same thing when they faced the greatest threats to this country.

I'm sorry but you make it sound like the FBI was the Staasi or KGB. It was not. It operated within the law. And yes there were subversives in this country who tried to sell us out to the communists. You cannot operate a major country without an intelligence service and law enforcement service. And in times of national crises, the Constitution can take a beating. Not sure if you are familiar with what took place during the Civil War and WWII.

With regard to what list you checked off regarding our so called abuses under the Patriot Act, those actions took place against stateless enemy combatants operating out of uniform. When you have stateless enemies operating outside the rules of warfare and law, all bets are off.

Nobody knows for sure. In any case it is too big of a security issue just to assume all that. Law enforcement and intelligence services have to investigate every lead. These people might not be stupid, but they are not perfect and mistakes might have been made. If that were not the case, many crimes would never have been solved.

Amen @Banacek. The government loves it when these rare issues come along (terrorism, child porn, etc) that everyone objects to so they can grab more power. I know we are a democracy but that doesn't mean if 51% of people are sheep who are willing to give away their freedom under the pretense of gaining more "safety" that the rest of us have to live with it.

There was a reason the Constitution and Bill of Rights were created, so the stupid can't vote there way to a police state.

And you are totally right, there is nothing on that phone going to add any more insight into that event. That episode made as much sense as the Okla City bombing. Funny how people have forgotten that, thinking terrorism didn't exist until the radical Muslims came along. There will always be sick people out there and no government can ever stop those kind of lone wolf attacks, regardless how much freedom we toss away.

My favorite is still the TSA debacle. Instead of just installing locks on cockpit, which would have totally stopped the 911 attacks, now we have an ineffective, expensive bureaucracy in place just to make flying an overall miserable experience.

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